She turns to him then, and sees something in his expression that makes her frown. But she doesn’t look away. Zac squirms, dropping his gaze to his hands, hardly daring to find her eyes again.
She is waiting. What is she waiting for? Could it be . . .
Her hands are on her lap. He tentatively puts one of his hands on one of hers. She looks down, stares at their hands together.
It’s now or never. He puts his arm around her shoulders, ready to pull her towards him, leaning in, imagining his next move: his hand gently tilting her face towards his.
‘Zac!’ Her voice is sharp and he jumps back. As he does so his fingers encounter a spider’s web, meshing the delicate threads together into a sticky knot.
‘I’m sorry . . . I didn’t mean to upset you . . . I – I care about you.’
‘I know.’ She sighs. ‘Zac, you’re practically my brother.’
He tries not to hear her, concentrating on plucking the goop from between his fingers, grateful for something to do, wishing he was anywhere else but here.
She leaps up from the bench and pats Arthur’s head. ‘Let’s keep walking,’ she says, without looking back.
Zac is consumed with embarrassment. It quickly turns to misery, and he trails her for a while, aware they are still heading away from the house, wondering if he should say something but not keen to draw her attention to the fact he’s still here.
To his surprise, Maddie suddenly sits down on a large slab of rock. When he sees where they are he hurries to catch up. ‘Er, Maddie—’
She holds a hand up. ‘Don’t talk, Zac. Just listen. I’m going to do something, and I want you to know that it will never, ever happen again. So just . . . just enjoy it, will you?’
She stands up and puts a hand on either side of his face. She pulls him towards her and presses her lips against his, and astonishment makes him resist at first, but not for long. He closes his eyes, and that makes it easier to believe that this is really happening. That Maddie is kissing him in the middle of the woods, alone together, with only a few furtive creatures close enough to watch them.
He doesn’t open his eyes until she moves away. His lips are buzzing.
‘Now,’ she says, her hands on her hips but an upbeat glint to her eye. ‘Can we go back to being friends . . . please? Because,’ and here her voice breaks a little, ‘I really don’t want to lose you.’
Zac is still reeling from her lips on his. Never again, she had said.
Still, some of the weight in his legs seems to have disappeared. She had kissed him.
Perhaps it will be enough.
‘Okay.’ He puts his hands in his pockets, wondering how they follow this moment.
She smiles shyly, and it is the Maddie he has always known. He is overcome with relief. Perhaps he isn’t going to lose her, after all.
‘Do you know where we are?’ he asks.
She looks intrigued. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You were sitting on the corpse stone.’
She frowns at the slab of rock, and he sees the recognition in her eyes.
‘Do you remember that time you and Georgia and Sophia left me alone here? You told me about a road of ghosts and brought me down here to show me the stone where they rested, and while I was looking at it you all ran away and hid behind the trees.’
She smiles. ‘I do remember that.’
‘I can’t believe how frightened I was, looking out at the empty path, waiting for one of you to show yourselves. I didn’t dare make a noise in case the dead people heard me first.’
Maddie pats the stone. ‘Sophia and Georgia were so confident and brave. I thought I would be like them when I got older, but the accident last night completely freaked me out.’
Zac shrugs. ‘Me too. I’ve felt sick all day.’
Maddie looks away. ‘Well, I’m glad Georgia’s okay.’
She has just given him an opening and he grabs it. ‘Actually, I don’t think Georgia is okay.’ The words are out of his mouth before he can help himself.
Maddie swings back around, her face pale. ‘What do you mean?’
Don’t do it, he thinks, as he reaches into his pocket, fighting with himself, as though he might have a concealed weapon in his hand. He is sure this is a really bad idea – and yet, in spite of that, he is pulling out his phone.
He presses a few buttons then hands it over. ‘I found this photo in Georgia’s room last night.’
Maddie takes the phone from him and studies the screen. She doesn’t react at first, but after a few seconds she gasps. ‘Oh my god, is that who I think it is?’
She looks up at Zac in disbelief.
‘I think so.’ He grimaces. ‘So, now the question is, what should I do about it?’
‘Oh my god, Zac, does that mean . . . Oh my god, this is major. Beyond major. Are you going to talk to her? You have to ask her about this.’
‘I don’t know.’ Zac has considered it, but even the thought of that conversation leaves him mortified. ‘What would I say?’